


A Not-Quite-Average Fairy Tale Wedding

by ruff_ethereal



Category: Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-22
Updated: 2015-07-26
Packaged: 2018-04-10 17:29:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4400900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruff_ethereal/pseuds/ruff_ethereal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The part-time heroes zap into Musical Fairy Tale Dimension again. This time, their mission is to safely escort a fellow princess and her groom to their wedding in a neighbouring kingdom--said groom being Sashi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [radiowrittenheart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/radiowrittenheart/gifts), [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> For the Anonymous that wanted Jealous Penn or Sashi.
> 
> I tried to make it musical, but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be.

Penn dangled from the edge of the carriage roof, her silk gloved fingers slowly slipping, the hem of her fancy dress dangling dangerously close to the sharp, rocky ground speeding past them at thirty miles an hour.

“Uh, guys? A little help here?!” She cried as her hands only kept on slipping.

On the roof proper, Sashi dueled with more brigands, punching, headbutting, and throwing the bandits off in ones and twos. The fallen thieves sailed off of into the distance, crashing and rolling on the hard ground, leaving clouds of dust in their wake.

Penn's grip kept on slipping, till just the very tips of her fingers held onto the carriage roof. She could finally hold on no more, closed her eyes as she fell down to the road below. Her ornate, hand-crafted boots hit the ground, sharp rocks slashing and gashing the leather, quickly dragging her down and away to shred the rest of her.

Sashi dove over the edge, grabbed her arm, and pulled her back up. The knight landed on his back, the princess sprawled out over his plate mail.

The two of them looked at each other, and smiled.

Thud.

One last brigand had jumped onto the carriage, their horse running off into the forest around them. They had their dagger ready to strike and stab, eyes gleaming as they saw the Fair Princess and the Brave Knight sprawled out, weapons nowhere in sight. Penn struggled to get off, Sashi struggled to stand up, but the bandit was already looming over Penn before either of them could get into a position to defend themselves.

Penn futilely raised her arms in defense, Sashi's eyes widened.

“No!”

The brigand's dagger came roaring down to Penn's heart.

Then, with a zap of green magic it flew out of their hand and onto the path behind them. They soon followed when a different pair of feet clad in a different style of ornate, hand-crafted boots planted themselves firmly on the brigand's back and knocked them off the roof of the carriage.

The brigand flew off screaming and flailing, hitting the ground with a much more dramatic cloud of dust than their comrades. They carefully picked themselves up and groaned, examining themselves for injury before standing up and turning to the others scattered further back.

“Everyone alright?” They asked.

A chorus of agreement rang out, though it was obvious they were more than a little battered and bruised from their falls.

“Never again, working for an evil queen!” Another cried, and the rest agreed. The brigands limped out off the road and fetched their horses, waiting for them in the cover of the brush.

Back at the carriage, the three heroes and the second princess kept themselves low to the ground, clutching whatever hold they had on the roof for dear life. The coachman kept on whipping and driving the horses, thundering and roaring down the path till they had left the Wayfarer's Trail long behind them.

They stopped near a river to rest and water the horses. All of them were exhausted, tired enough to lay down in the shade of a nearby tree and sleep the rest of the day away, but they knew they couldn't, not just yet.

Wayfarer's Trail was just the first dangerous road of three, and from this wonderful start, they couldn't begin to imagine how much more pleasant the other two might be.

Penn removed her gloves and dunked her fingers in the water, yelping then sighing as the cool waters shocked and soothed the red burns on her skin. Beside her, Sashi pulled off his helmet and dunked his whole head in the water, coming up for a breath dripping wet.

“I don't know what those armourers were thinking;” He mumbled. “These things magically turn into _ovens.”_

Penn smiled. “Hey, at least they kept you safe, right?”

Sashi sighed and shook the water out, wiping away the rest from his hair and his beard with his hands. “Right.” The look on his face softened. “You alright?”

Penn nodded. “Yeah. You?”

Sashi smiled back. “Ditto.”

They sat back on the river bank, side-by-side, Penn massaging her hands, Sashi waiting for the sun to dry him off some more. It was a quiet, peaceful moment, nothing going wrong, no dangers, monsters, or foul fiends attacking them, and no worrying about the burning daylight for the moment.

So of course, something had to come by and shatter that calm into a million pieces.

“My love!” The Princess cried as she ran up to Sashi, throwing herself around his broad shoulders before lovingly raining kisses down on his face.

Sashi blushed and tried not to balk or freak out at the affections of his “fiance,” Penn shut her mouth and kept from saying anything untoward.

“Oh, my love, I was so worried when our dear Fairy God Mother took me away from you! There were so many foes coming at us from all directions, I--I was so worried you wouldn't make it!” The Princess sobbed and buried her face into Sashi's neck, tightening her grip around him.

Sashi looked helplessly at Penn; Penn reluctantly mimed soothingly rubbing her back.

“Worry not, my… love,” Sashi said as he did just that. “It'll take a lot more than that to stop me.”

The Princess pulled away, wiped the tears from her eyes, and smiled. “Yes, I know that, but can you really blame me, my love? It's the day of our wedding, and yet again I find myself wondering if I might lose you before we are betrothed—nothing new, I know, but it's just never been so much more _obvious_ and terrifying than today and--”

Penn quickly put a hand to her fellow Princess' shoulder. “We understand, your highness. Now how about we get moving again, so we can make it to your ceremony?” She smiled.

The Princess nodded. “Yes, yes of course, my apologies. If you won't mind, would you please give us a moment alone? Nothing more than a minute, I assure you.”

“No.” came screaming to the forefront of Penn's mind in giant, bolded letters, with an accompanying angelic chorus singing it in perfect harmony, but a simple “Yes.” left her lips. She turned around and walked back to the carriage, the horses already being saddled up once more. Boone hovered beside them, zapping away any sharp rocks that may have gotten lodged into their feet.

“Is there something wrong, my love?” The Princess asked. “You seem troubled since we set off this morning.”

“Nerves,” Sashi explained. “Getting married is already a pretty big deal, getting there before sunset and having an Evil Queen and everything else in this dime—country try to stop us at every turn is, uh… yeah.”

Penn could feel the Princess smile, didn't even need to see her pearly white teeth sparkling and her perfect pink lips turned up in just the right curvature to know it. “Well, fret not, my love; it'll all soon be over once we emerge victorious from this latest adventure of ours.” The Princess chuckled suggestively. “Besides, I'll work _extra_ hard to relieve you of your burdens later tonight, once I am officially your wife~”

Penn clapped her hand over her mouth and resisted the urge to puke. She swallowed her bile, leaned on the side of the carriage, and groaned.

Boone finished magicking a cross of medieval fantasy band-aids on a horse's hoof, and floated over to her friend. “Something wrong, Penn?”

“It's nothing Boone, just get ready to move out again.” Penn replied as she straightened herself up and grabbed the handle of the carriage door.

Boone looked over his shoulder and saw Sashi and the Princess on the river bank, awkwardly holding hands. The knight was blushing bright red, the Princess was just smiling and amused at her “fiancee's” distress; by sheer luck, it turns out the real Brave Knight was as much an awkward lug as Sashi was being right now.

Boone turned back to Penn, a frown on her face. “Dude, are you jealous again?”

“I am not jealous, okay?!” Penn yelled as she threw open the carriage door. Boone flinched, and Penn looked intently at the ground. “Okay, maybe I am. A little. A teensy, weensy tiny bit, not even worth it's own stanza.”

The look on Boone's face softened and Penn awkwardly stepped into the carriage, leaving the door open. “Dude, you know he's not actually gonna marry her, right? We'll probably zap out of here as soon as we make it to the ceremony.”

Penn sighed. “I know… but still, it's just not right that he has to pretend to be all lovey-dovey with her; Sashi's not who the Princess fell in love with, and Sashi _definitely_ hasn't fallen in love with her, either.” She paused, her eyes growing with worry. “Could he?”

“Definitely not!” Boone replied. “I mean, yeah it's possible. Maybe. Kinda. She is a princess, and she's got all the works what with charm, brains, and beauty—and I'll just shut up now.”

Boone awkwardly flew off somewhere while Penn sulked in the carriage. She looked out and saw Sashi and the Princess walking back hand-in-hand. “So sorry about the delay, your highness;” The Princess explained as Sashi helped her in. “Kind of lost track of time. There won't be any more dilly-dallying, that I promise you!” She said as she took the seat across Penn.

Penn forced a smile on her face. “Glad to hear it. Everyone ready to go?”

Sashi forced his large frame into the carriage, just enough space inside for the Princess and him to be hip-to-hip. She might have been draping herself over him from simple lack of space, or it might have a been an unintentional design flaw she did not mind one bit.

Boone quickly flew back in and sat beside Penn, while Sashi awkwardly shut the door.

“I'll take that as a 'Yes.'” Penn said, trying her best to keep the hostility from her voice. “Coachman! Let's go! The sun's not waiting for us anymore than it was this morning!”

The horses were whipped and the carriage went rumbling down the road again, this time heading for another short but treacherous path to the next kingdom, this one called the Hungering Bog, a swamp that was known to swallow carriages whole—horses, coachman, passengers and all—and that was if the monsters there were feeling merciful.

If there was any consolation, Penn thought, this whole mission was going to be over once they reached the castle gates.


	2. Chapter 2

The mission wasn't over by the time they reached the castle gates—not by a long shot. The part-time heroes, the Princess, and their one remaining horse thundered into the courtyard, running and riding for their lives from an army of golems, mercenaries, and one manically laughing Rippen hot on their trail.

And to top it all of, they all still reeked of the Hungering Bog's unique stench of butts and dead people.

The trouble had started in Traitor's Pass, the last dangerous road they had to travel on before they reached the neighbouring kingdom. It was a heavily guarded path from the outbound end, the short valley flanked on either side by tall cliffs full of large crags, crevices, and hidden paths an ambush or an invading force could happily maneuver and camp in for days or weeks at a time with the kingdom's guards and the inhabitants none the wiser.

It really wasn't a question of _if_ Rippen had set an ambush, but rather, _where_ they were hiding and when they would strike.

The team had prepared themselves as best as they could, ready for a rain of falling rocks or arrows from bandits up above; a swarm of brigands descending on their carriage, stopping it in its tracks before boarding it; or even the road getting blocked off by way of an avalanche.

What they hadn't been ready for was Rippen turning Traitor's Pass against them—that is to say, turning the treacherous crags and rocky cliff walls into massive golems.

“Gotta hand it to Rippen, the bandits and archers riding on the back of the golems is a pretty nice touch!” Boone said as they rode the horses down the pass, the carriage now no more than splinters and dust underneath a massive, rocky foot.

The others didn't even bother shooting Boone dirty looks, what stores of energy they had left and their sheer force of will all needed to try to get away from the chaos, the arrows and other projectiles, and the murderous fiends out for their blood.

The guards stayed on the other end, watching and waiting for them to get through the gates and to safety. They were completely useless while the foursome were still _in_ the road, their equipment and strategies based solely on blasting the ever-loving daylights out of the invaders once they got out of expansive natural cover of Traitor's Pass and into the nice wide, open, and flat plains on the other side.

The heroes and their horses passed the gates just in time for the guards to safely set off the explosives, reducing one golem to dust and blocking the rest with an avalanche. It didn't completely stop them, the surviving golems now climbing on top of the debris and bringing the rest of the army with them, but it did give the heroes and the guards precious time to turn tail and run as quickly as they could to the castle.

It couldn't be a straight ride there, of course. No, the Princess' horse had to get terrified by the explosives, threw her highness off its back, and dashed off to the distance, leaving her highness on the ground with a broken leg.

Sashi jumped off the back of Penn's horse and dashed off to rescue her. Straight out of an action movie back home, Sashi pulled the Princess into her arms just in the nick of time, just seconds before a golem stomped on her and turned her into so much royal paste.

Penn stamped down on the feelings of jealousy and unbridled hatred for the Princess as Sashi ran back to the horse with his “bride” latched to his chest for dear life, instead helping him and Boone secure her highness to the horse's back.

There was no time for congratulations, grateful smiles, or even a short stanza once more dedicated to the Brave Knight and the Princess' love; it seemed this “scene” was going to be a purely orchestral piece, and none of them were eager to change that.

They dashed back down on the castle road as quickly as they could, Rippen and the rest of her army following suit. All the forces of the kingdom came together as one to stop them, or at the least, delay their advance.

The heroes ran to the center of the courtyard, and looked around. The area was beautifully, elegantly decorated for the wedding, flowers, precious tapestries, and finely crafted pews set out for the occasion; the gold frame of the Kingdom's Heart up above gleamed and shined in the fading afternoon light; and absolutely no one was around save them, a handful of elite guards, and the priestess cowering behind the altar.

There was no time to waste on a “proper” wedding; Sashi ran to the side reserved for the bride, Boone carried the Princess to the side reserved for the groom, Penn stood to front of them with a spear in her hands, the priestess got up and performed the fastest royal wedding in the dimension's history.

“You may now forever seal your love with a kiss!” The priestess cried before she dove straight back behind the altar.

Boone quickly raised the Princess up in the air till her lips were level with Sashi. The Princess closed her eyes and puckered up. Sashi blushed and hesitated.

Rippen and her one remaining golem crashed into the courtyard, the jewel on the evil sorceress' staff already glowing a bright, ominous red.

Penn looked at his clearly reluctant and uncomfortable friend, and at Rippen just a few seconds away from blasting them all to death. She sighed, mumbled a quick apology, and smashed the blunt of her spear into the back of Sashi's still helmeted head.

The knight came surging forward, his lips on a straight course to his “bride's” own.

Blue energy surrounded the heroes, and they zapped out just before their lips met.

* * *

The mood at the Odyssey was tense as the heroes floated back in, Penn looking guilty, Sashi blankly staring at the far wall, Boone awkwardly clutching his arm. Phyllis cast them a single glance, before looking up to the still open MUT portal.

The Brave Knight and his Princess were locked in a passionate kiss, the knight holding his new bride in his arms. Bright pink magic formed in their chests, before it surged up into the air as twin wisps before flooding into the empty center of the Kingdom's Heart.

“NOOOOOO!” Rippen screamed as the golden outlines started spinning around the pink, beating heart of magic in the center of it. A wave of energy erupted from the artefact, blasting the Evil Queen and her forces far away from the kingdom, magically repairing the damages and healing the injuries wrought by her attack.

The look on Phyllis' face never changed as she shut the portal. “Good work today, mission complete.” She said with her usual enthusiasm.

Sashi awkwardly looked at Penn and Boone. Penn looked sheepishly looked away. Boone whistled and took a sudden interest in the ceiling.

Phyllis sighed. “What is wrong? And if sing problems to Phyllis, reserve right to shove pies in pie holes.” She casually pressed a button on the side, and three robotic arms holding pies descended from the ceiling and held their delicious ammunition a few feet away from the part-timer's faces.

“Did we kiss?” Sashi asked quickly. “The princess and me, I mean.”

Phyllis silently pressed a series of buttons and the MUT started playing back the last few moments of the mission, just before Penn smacked Sashi in the back of the head. The images went by at half-speed, the angle that of an omniscient, invisible cameraman, letting them see the whole thing happen in full detail.

Penn saw himself smash the back of Sashi's head with his (then her) spear, and cringed. Sashi saw that she had most definitely not been the one to actually _kiss_ the Princess, and let out the breath she was holding.

“Not interested, but have to ask for paperwork: why need know?” Phyllis asked.

Sashi spun around to face Phyllis. “Because I don't want my first kiss ever to be with some random stranger I just met!” She yelled. “It's got to be special, it's got to be romantic, it's got to be--” She stopped as she noticed her friends looking awkwardly at her.

Sashi hid her face from them, and ran from the Odyssey without another word.

Penn and Boone reached out too late, Phyllis watched her go with her almost trademark look of complete disinterest. “Will not care unless not come in for work tomorrow; go deal with teenage problems, try solve and not get Phyllis involved.” She said as she shut down the MUT.

The lights above shut off, the machinery powered down, and all was quiet in the Odyssey once more.

Penn and Boone silently walked over to the seats where they had left their things, and found Sashi had forgotten her bag there. The two of them looked at each other.

“I'll do it.” Penn said as he slung it over his shoulder alongside his own bag.

Boone nodded. “Good luck, dude.”

They said their goodbyes and split ways outside the door. Penn got on a bus, and thought of what he was going to say to Sashi on the ride there, her bag laid out on his lap. He still hadn't thought of anything by the time he walked up to her front door, but figured it might not be that bad.

' _Her parents and her brother live her, too!”'_ He thought as he knocked. _'O_ _ne of them might answer the door, then I can just drop this off,_ _and be on my way_ _.'_

Then Sashi opened the door, they stood there staring at each other, and Penn realized he should have known it was going to be Sashi.

The two of them struggled for something to say, whatever awkward starts they had quickly stopping as they just happened to say them at the same time, before gesturing at the other to continue, then gesturing right back them to go on, they'd be the one to shut up. The cycle went on for far longer than any of them would have liked before Sashi noticed her bag. Penn followed her eyes and suddenly remembered he had it.

Penn slung it off to her shoulders and handed it to her. “You forgot this.” He said.

“Thanks.” Sashi replied.

The two of them stood there, before Sashi stepped back, clutched the bag to her chest, and pulled the door closed.

It would have been a quick, easy, convenient end to the awkwardness; they could have just let the incident fade away into memory, and be back to normal by school the next day. Or it'd fester and grow between them until it reached the size of something that'd cause an irreparable rift between them.

“Wait!” Penn lodged his foot in the door, and yelped as the door closed on it. The “crunch” wasn't quite a brutal, “definitely crushed to pieces” sound, but it was loud enough to make them both wince. Penn awkwardly stepped his injured foot back as the Sashi quickly pulled the door back open again.

“We need to talk.”

Sashi abandoned her idea of slamming the door in his face. “My parents and my brother aren't home.”

Penn frowned and silently waited for the next part: “I can't let you in, sorry.”

“… But I think they won't mind if I let you in...” Sashi mumbled. She stepped back from the door.

Penn blinked, registered what she said, and awkwardly ambled in.

He still had no plan, but this wasn't the first time he'd completely winged a dire situation.


	3. Chapter 3

“You need another chair for your foot?” Sashi asked.

“Nah,” Penn replied. “I'm good.”

Sashi nodded and sat down on the chair across Penn, the Kobayashi's kitchen table between them. The two of them looked at each other, the awkward silence from earlier back again, no more forgotten bag to use as an excuse to break it.

“I'm sorry!” They both cried. The two of them blinked. “What are you sorry about?” They asked each other.

The two of them opened their mouths again, before Penn shut his and gestured for Sashi to go first.

Sashi blushed. “I'm sorry I almost screwed up our entire mission. I let my feelings get in the way of my job, and if you hadn't smacked me in the back of the head earlier, Rippen would have probably won.”

Penn stopped. “What? No, you don't have to apologize! I _completely_ understand, I wouldn't kiss some total stranger I just met, either!”

“Unless the fate of an entire dimension rests on it.”

Penn fell quiet. “… Yeah...”

Sashi looked away, before looking at him out of the corner of her eye. “So… you?”

“I… I'm sorry for smacking you in the back of the head earlier. I saw you freaking out every time the Princess got all lovey-dovey with you, I knew doing anything romantic with her is about the last thing you want to do, but I just… I panicked back there.”

Sashi smiled at him. “It's cool, PZ; like I said, fate of a dimension. She's not even my type—for one thing, I don't like girly girl princesses.”

Penn sighed in relief. “Glad to hear that! I was worried for a while back there.”

Sashi blinked and looked at him. “… Worried about what…?”

Penn suddenly realized he had said too much. He started making up some form of lie involving the Princess and having to keep going back to Musical Fairy Tale world all the time, before he decided to tell the truth instead. There wasn't anything in this dimension forcing him to say it, much more sing it, but damned if he needed to.

Penn looked Sashi in her eyes. “I… uh… the, uh...” He sighed. “The truth of it is is that I was jealous. The Princess had the whole shebang—charm, wit, and beauty—and I was afraid you were going to legit fall for her.”

Sashi's mouth slowly fell open. Her cheeks burned red. Her lips started moving, slowly, but no sound came out of her lips. “What…? I… you... do you _like_ me…?” She whispered.

There were many ways Penn could have gotten his way out of the situation: he could have played the “'Like You' As A Friend” card; he could have played the “Don't Want You Falling For Someone From Another Dimension” card; but instead, he kept on playing the “Honesty” card.

“Yes. In that way.”

Penn's thoughts of how he had ruined their friendship and sent them on a one way trip to Awkward City were interrupted by a loud screeching sound noise. He felt the air rush past him before there was a dull thud, and suddenly the back of his head hurt something awful. Soft, warm lips pressed up against his and he forgot about everything else—for about three seconds.

Penn let out a muffled groan of pain, Sashi eye's snapped open, and she quickly pulled away, awkwardly standing back up with the table for support. Penn looked up at her from the floor—Sashi's face was almost completely bright red, her mouth was moving but no words were coming out, and her eyes showed an expression he'd rarely if ever seen on her:

Fear.

Penn rubbed the back of his head and winced. “Heh… guess this makes us one to one on the 'causing each other head injuries' thing, huh, Sash?” He chuckled then immediately regretted it.

“I am so, _so_ sorry...” Sashi whispered.

Penn waved her off and picked himself up. Minutes later, the chairs were righted, they sat across each other once more, but this time, Penn held an ice pack to the back of his head. “So, I'm assuming that you like me too, since you, uh...” He smiled, and Sashi looked away again.

“… Yes...” Sashi mumbled to the floor.

“You mind if I ask how long…?”

Sashi sighed and turned back to Penn. “Ever since I met you way back when. I still hated your guts but I thought your hair was cute if really, _really,_ dumb, and you had that innocent 'babe-in-the-woods' thing that made me want to crush you or hold you tight while saying everything's gonna be alright.” She cringed, blushed, and looked away again.

“What about Blaze?”

Sashi shot him a dirty look. “I can be attracted to more than one person, you know! It's not a rule that I can only have one crush on one guy at a time!” Again, she studied the floor. “… But, yeah, you were the only one that I never _stopped_ having a crush on, so...”

Penn smiled, Sashi intensified her examination on the fine details of the floor.

“Does this make us boyfriend/girlfriend now?” Penn asked.

Sashi looked back at him. “I don't know… do _you_ want to us to be boyfriend/girlfriend?”

Penn nodded.

Sashi nodded back. “Good! … Because I do too!”

There was another brief period of awkward silence between them. Penn removed the ice pack from his head and felt the bump. “I think the swelling's gone or I'm too numb to care!” He said as he set the ice down on the table. “Want to try that kissing thing again? With a lot less 'diving at me from out of the blue,' please.” He quickly added.

Sashi looked at him with an incredulous look, before shaking her head and getting up from her chair. “Stay right where you are; there's something I've been wanting to do for a _long_ time.”

Sashi walked over to Penn, turned his chair to the side, and calmly sat down on his lap. She hung one arm over his shoulder, taking his chin into her other hand. Penn grinned, Sashi smiled, and the both of them blushed as she slowly brought their lips together.

“Alright! Boone owns me 20 bucks!”

The two of them snapped their heads to the entrance and saw George, and Mr. and Mrs. Kobayashi standing in the doorway, smiles on all three of their faces. Sashi bolted off Penn's lap like it was on fire, but the damage had already been done.

“H-hi Mr. and Mrs. Kobayashi, hey George...” Penn said awkwardly.

“Evening Penn, hi sweetie.” Mrs. Kobayashi replied calmly as she hung her coat on the rack beside the door.

“You know we gave you your own room for a reason, yes?” Mr. Kobayashi said to Sashi.

Sashi's mouth fell open before she quickly ran off to the safety off said room, head hung and face firmly turned away from everyone. Penn awkwardly got up from his chair and started making for the door.

“I'll just… see myself out.” He muttered before he made a slower but equally awkward exit.

The Kobayashis just looked at him with knowing smiles, while George thought of what he was going to do with the money he was going to be collecting tomorrow.

* * *

The big, lumbering body clad in three inches of steel plate was a familiar form. Sashi looked up at the sky, bright and blue with the sun shining merrily down upon them, then to his side, where the Princess—now the Brave Knight's wife—sat at an elegant, dainty tea table with accompanying spread.

“You seem awfully calm of a sudden, my love.” The Princess said as she took a tiny, silent sip of her tea.

Sashi shrugged. “Eh, you could say I've reached something of a compromise, my love.” He smoothly replied.

The Princess beamed. “Happy to hear it! I was afraid you might throttle our guest any moment now.”

 _'_ _Guest?_ _'_ Sashi thought.

Then he caught sight of Penn riding past on horseback, accompanied by a duke or a prince or some sort of aristocrat on his own magnificent steed. He told a joke, and Penn laughed—not a fake, polite sort of chuckle, but an obviously genuine, from-the-heart laugh.

Penn didn't even notice Sashi as she rode past, the two horses riding so that the knight could get a full view of the male noble's chiseled, handsome face.

Sashi gritted his teeth.

The Princess smirked. “Something happen to that compromise, my love?”

“Yes,” Sashi replied calmly. “I do believe I need her highness' input on certain clauses of it.” He turned around to wordlessly excuse himself, saw Boone sitting opposite the Princess. He shot her a look told the Fairy Godmother to get Penn off that horse, somewhere where he could brief them, and most importantly, away from the Duke/Prince/Aristocrat of Wherever, and the two of them were off.

If there was any consolation, Sashi thought, she was free to wail on Penn once the mission was over.


End file.
